Adderall XR | ADHD Information

Tiredness surprised me as well.  I wasn't expecting a side effect of fatigue.  Should be the total opposite if anything.

We'll give it a few days and see how it goes.  I did only give her 1/2 of the prescribed dose again today.  She didn't want to take that even.  She's scared to death of being awake till 3 am again.

In my experience with DD, the insomnia does subside for some, not all. I have never experienced the tiredness, Adderall was not the med for DD, so we didn't use it long. NOw that DD is a "tween" we are seing more atitude and arguing, maybe we need to revisit adderall?

Hi-  MY DD (age 11) just started taking Adderall XR on Sun.  She is switching to Adderall, from Metadate CD.  I was nervous about possible side effects, so I decided to only give her 1/2 of the dose the first day.  No problems other than she seemed a little tired and quiet that day.  She's always had trouble falling asleep, so we normally use 3 mg. of Melatonin w/ success.  She was awake a little longer than normal maybe the first night, but not bad.  Maybe an extra 25 minutes.  So Mon. I give the full dose prescribed.  Again, she seemed tired, she was quiet. very well behaved and compliant, never argued once the whole day (big issue w/ DD normally).  I was hoping in time as she adjusts to the med., the fatigued feeling would subside?  I certainly don't want her to loose all of herself w/ this medication, just the "nasties"....Rude, disrespectful behavior.  It was certainly gone Monday.

However, Monday night the insomnia set in, despite 3 mg. of Melatonin around 10:30 pm.  She was still awake when I went to bed at 2:30am!!

I will go back down to a 1/2 dose today!

My question is: With Adderall XR, does the insomnia subside as the child gets used to the medication?

Is there a period of time needed to adjust properly w/ Adderall XR?  She said she wasn't sad at all, just tired.  Maybe the quiet was so weird because she normally argues about EVERYTHING and she didn't argue once yesterday.  I'm just not used to this quiet of a house.  Will she liven up a little as she adjusts?  I don't want to loose my sweet, silly, fun kid.....Just the "mouthy" one.

 

Thanks in advance!

MamaBear

MamaBear39280.8031018519My son has been taking adderral xr for 7 months now. The tiredness (kind of blah) lasted a few days and then he was himself again, minus the hyperactivity. The insomnia got better (did not go away fully) after a few months but he takes melatonin (1 mg) about 60 mins before bed. That helped a great deal. The doctor told me to not really "judge" the medicine until he had been on it for 2-3 weeks then I would know more about how my son reacts to it. We also give it to him the MINUTE he opens his eyes in the a.m. (usually around 7) because it lasts about 12 hours.
Good luck!I used to have a ton of trouble sleeping with Adderall (always had trouble anyways but a lot worse when going on the Adderall.) I wouldn't take it on non-school days because I couldn't sleep. I've been through nearly every sleeping medication and nothing worked for about 6 years. Finally last year my doctor prescribed me 50mg of Serequel and 50mg of Trazadone to help me sleep. Incredibley, it worked to perfection. I haven't had trouble sleeping once since trying this combination. My girlfriend also takes Adderall and we've tried nearly everything to help her sleep too. Finally I let her try the 50mg of Trazadone and it worked perfect for her too. I fall asleep within 2 minutes of laying down and I sleep straight through the night. Both medications are very very mild drugs, Trazadone is considered an anti-depressant but it's a completely different type of AD, nothing similar to the Zoloft types. I take the Serequel about an 75-90 minutes before bed (it takes awhile to kick in) and the Trazadone about 35-40 minutes before bed. The best thing about both drugs is that they are 100% non-addictive. I highly, highly suggest you ask the Doctor about trying atleast one of these meds.

what time does she take it?

I also agree you need to give it a couple of weeks, but that "sad" way is the reason a lot of people switch. It was one of ther reasons we stopped taking it.

Diane V39281.5672685185

DD usually sleeps until 9 or 9:30 in the summer.  The past three days I've gone in and given her the Adderall around 7:30am then let her go back to sleep.  Just trying to get it in her earlier.  She's going to sleep a little earlier, but she was also stung by a bee on Thurs. so has been taking Benadryl for a few days because of the itching.  So, that is helping her sleep too.  Other than the insomnia, this appears to be the right med. for her.  We have had 8 days of a wonderful, well behaved child.  No ARGUING....I mean, NOT EVEN ONCE IN 8 DAYS!!  She normally can't go 30 minutes without arguing.  She is very focused and is doing her small chores w/o ANY reminders.  The daytime tiredness is getting much better and all the positives about her personality are coming back.  The nasties are still gone though!!

I might add, I'm still only giving her 1/2 of the dose the Doctor prescribed!???

I think it is all we will need, at least at home for the remainder of the summer.

If you have symptom relief at that dose, which it sounds like you do. That is the right dose for her. Good for you. Congrats on your luck with this med!  Thank you Diane!